On the comparision of various wind-turbine load control systems for maximum power tracking using PLC - SCADA

Wind power is the third ranked source of renewable energy. However, one of the biggest issues of Wind-turbines is adapting to the unstable wind conditions. Several maximum power point tracking (MPPT) application systems are discussed and compared in this paper. One of the methods discussed in this paper was implemented with an adaptive switching system to track the maximum power. This system can be designed with either using a micro-controller or Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) and both approaches were instigated and compared. The second method described in this paper uses relays to control the connected load. Then a new method is proposed in this paper which uses a benchmark motor to measure the wind speed and configure the load accordingly. All the three methods were implemented using supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) with PLC. Finally, the proposed method is compared with the two existing systems of variable speed controller wind turbines for it's viability for the long run in future.